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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

AN unheralded Ghanaian defender only identified as Isaac is on the verge of sealing a deal with Castle Lager Premier Soccer League anchors Bulawayo Chiefs.

Chiefs’ trainer Thulani Sibanda told Chronicle Sport yesterday that the defender is part of the five players that the club has identified and will be registered when the mid-season transfer window opens next Monday.

Chiefs anchor the table with eight points from 12 games and are hard-pressed to turn around their fortunes to survive relegation.

The club didn’t take a rest when the league announced a two-week break as an act of solidarity with the Warriors, who are competing in the Afcon finals in Egypt. Domestic action will resume on July 6, giving Chiefs time to sort out registration documents for the players they intend to add to their squad.

“There are five guys that we’ve identified and they include a defender from Ghana named Isaac. He has been training with us for some time and we feel he can add value to our squad. We are also targeting a player from CIWU and once we agree everything we will reveal his name,” said Sibanda.

Chiefs are hoping to register defender Felix Moyo and to reunite with central midfielder Desire Shumbanhete, who is in ZPC Hwange books.

The club had also been hoping to add former Bulawayo City goalkeeper Aaron Ngwenya during the break but the unattached goalie has reportedly stopped attending Chiefs’ training sessions.

When action resumes on July 6, Chiefs will face troubled Hwange at the Colliery Stadium.

“I think its early days for us to be written off. We believe we have the ability to rise and get out of the relegation zone. It won’t be easy, but we will have to be mentally and tactically right in the coming matches. If you do a close analysis of how we’ve been progressing, we had a slow start and now the players understand the way we want to play. 

“We dominate teams and even in our last game against FC Platinum, I thought we had done everything to at least pick a point because we were all over the champions. Unfortunately for us, our goalkeeper made two costly mistakes, but we can’t blame him because mistakes are part of football. What is important is to put the disappointment behind and focus on the next games,” said Sibanda.

Castle Lager PSL table

P W D L F A GD Pts

FC Platinum 12 7 3 2 15 5 10 24

Chicken Inn 12 7 2 3 19 7 12 23

Caps United 12 7 2 3 23 15 8 23

Black Rhinos 12 6 4 2 14 10 4 22

Chapungu 12 5 4 3 15 11 4 19

ZPC Kariba 12 5 3 4 8 10 -2 18

Manica Diamonds 12 4 5 3 12 10 2 17

Ngezi Platinum 12 4 5 3 10 9 1 17

Harare City 12 5 1 6 15 15 0 16

Herentals 12 3 6 3 9 8 1 15

Triangle United 12 4 3 5 14 15 -1 15

Dynamos 12 4 3 5 7 9 -2 15

Highlanders 12 3 5 4 6 9 -3 14

Hwange 12 4 2 6 9 15 -6 14

TelOne 12 2 6 4 8 11 -3 12

Yadah 12 3 3 6 9 16 -7 12

Mushowani 12 2 3 7 12 17 -5 9

Bulawayo Chiefs 12 2 2 8 10 23 -13 8

– @ZililoR